Technology & Learning November 2007 - (Page 42) » Integration Spanish dialogue or a satellite Mexican TV show so they can explain the plot and themes, describe the characters, and tell their favorite part. after conducting online research. Label Analysis When visiting China, the teacher took many digital images of common household items such as cereal, laundry soap, tea, and toys. Students read and translate the Chinese labels and then participate in activities such as deciding which item to buy and explaining their reasons to the class. Google is another source for images of Chinese products. Compare and contrast products worldwide with the help of Google. Recorded Conversations To establish more personal connections, students might conduct ongoing written conversations with peers. Activities might include a chat about clothing styles with a student in Spain, or about peer pressure with another in Ecuador. Since they converse in an online program, their conversations are recorded. TV Translation Fast-thinking is required in simultaneous translation activities in which the teacher turns on an Englishspeaking TV station and a student translates content into Spanish. At other times, they translate from Spanish into English. Even though only one student translates in front of the class, the others are trying to translate from their desks. .com/en/products _services/world lingo_translator .html) to compare it. They do not assume the online translation is correct, and they often discuss the translations with the class. Students learn that words can have different connotations, which can drastically change the meaning of a passage. Podcasts At home, students listen to daily podcasts in Chinese (http://chinese pod.com/) to help prepare them for various videoconferences with Chinese peers. They often compare their views about the common literature they are reading. YouTube Every two weeks student groups make movies on a topic such as problems in a restaurant. However, before they post it, they have a class in China critique it for culture, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Students are motivated to do a thorough job as their Chinese counterparts find even the smallest error. Sometimes the class watches a YouTube video made by Chinese students. Research Tours For foreign language learners of Chinese, the classroom is almost a virtual experience. Each month the teacher displays printed out images from Woophy of various places within a different major Chinese city. The students take turns giving tours of those places Online Gaming Zon—The New Chengo Chinese is a multiplayer online Mandarin language game that allows students to start in villages and work their way up to cities (http://confucius.msu.edu/ news.htm). As they progress, they learn historical and cultural aspects from ancient times through modern China while communicating in Mandarin. When they finish, they can act as tour guides or conduct business in the game. Harry Grover Tuttle, Ed.D., is a consultant (harry.g.tuttle@gmail.com). Browser Translation The class visits Web sites and searches specific topics in Chinese by changing the Firefox browser preference to show pages in simplified Chinese. One example is to read a comic book in Chinese (www.cartoonwin.com/free.php) and explain it to the class. Translation Sites Students translate dialogue on their own and then go to one of the many online translation programs (www.worldlingo Zoom in to major Chinese city streets to get a Woophy snapshot of life in the East. Get Your Tips Published Do you have some great integration tips on any school subject? Submit them to techlearning_editors@nbmedia.com for possible publication in T&L. 42 | www.techlearning.com http://worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html http://worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html http://chinesepod.com/ http://chinesepod.com/ http://confucius.msu.edu/news.htm http://confucius.msu.edu/news.htm http://www.cartoonwin.com/free.php http://worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html http://www.techlearning.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.